This auction actually brought Julian two surprises: an ancient tablet containing Unown, and the Dark Stone transformed from Zekrom.
Zekrom, the Dragon of Ideals—according to the movie lore—could only be awakened and recognized by someone with unwavering ideals.
Of course, that was just fiction. In the real world, things weren't that simple. It was only because Ash was the protagonist that every legendary Pokémon he met conveniently liked him.
'Unwavering ideals?' Julian felt his own ideals were plenty firm, so why hadn't Zekrom awakened for him?
Still, since Zekrom had appeared, he wondered if the Ruins corresponding to its counterpart, Reshiram, had also emerged.
As he pondered this, the final auction item was wheeled onto the stage, and the atmosphere in the venue reached its peak. Many people craned their necks to see the object hidden under the red cloth.
Noticing this, the host smiled slightly and raised his voice even more enthusiastically.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for—the most thrilling highlight of tonight's auction!"
"Let us welcome—the star of the night!"
As he spoke, the host stepped up to the small cart, grabbed the edge of the red cloth, and whipped it off dramatically.
"Behold—the Ultimate Fighting-type treasure—the Heart's Tear!" he shouted.
As the red cloth was removed, a glass bottle was revealed. Inside was a thumb-sized, teardrop-shaped object emitting a faint golden glow, shimmering like a drop of water.
This was the Ultimate Fighting-type treasure, Heart's Tear.
[Heart's Tear: Increases critical-hit rate by 30%. Reduces the chance of receiving a critical hit by 30%, and increases the accuracy of all moves by 10% (limited to Fighting-type Pokémon).]
This item was indeed the Heart's Tear. Under Julian's Probing Eyes, the item's information was fully revealed. After seeing the specific details, even Julian's calm expression couldn't help but show surprise.
The effects of this item were truly astonishing.
Just the 30% increase in critical-hit rate alone made it worthy of being called an Ultimate treasure.
What was a "critical hit"? Simply put, it meant a far greater chance to strike an opponent's vital spot. With enough luck, it might be like stabbing directly into the opponent's main artery.
Critical hits were actually quite mystical. Suppose you had two Pokémon of the same kind and you punched one on its vital spot; the injury inflicted would be more severe than if you had hit another part of its body.
Now, if you switched to the other Pokémon and struck the same spot with the same force, the damage dealt might be even higher than with the previous one.
It was like someone tripping over their own feet while walking and ending up breaking their arm. While, another person, with the same weight, height, physique, and even the exact same way of tripping and falling, might only end up with a few scrapes.
How could anyone explain that?
"The starting bid is 500 million, with each increase no less than 100 million," the host announced without further ado. The specific effects of the Heart's Tear had already been promoted beforehand, so everyone present was aware of them.
The Heart's Tear was undoubtedly an Ultimate treasure. Even among all other Ultimate treasures, it was an exceptionally rare find. Julian had come to this auction specifically for it.
As for what kind of person would choose to sell the Heart's Tear, and why the Howard family hadn't purchased it in advance but instead opted for an auction—Julian didn't care to know, nor was he interested.
All that mattered was that there was nothing wrong with this Heart's Tear.
The allure of an Ultimate treasure was self-evident. In just a few minutes, the price of the Heart's Tear had skyrocketed to 800 million.
Many who had remained silent earlier began to bid frantically now—especially the Fighting-type trainers, who looked ready to storm the stage and snatch it outright.
After all, consuming the Heart's Tear could make a Fighting-type Pokémon at least twice as strong.
When the bidding exceeded one billion, the number of bidders noticeably dwindled. One billion was a threshold—anyone who could afford that much liquidity had to belong to one of the ten most powerful families in the region.
Eric was, of course, among them.
"Two billion," Julian called out, directly doubling the price and causing an uproar in the venue.
"Dammit, can having money really let you do whatever you want?"
"He's not just rich—he's got power and influence too. What can you even say?"
"Forget it. No matter how impressive he is, I'm the man he can never have."
"Bro, you win."
Eric's expression stiffened. The Dawson family genuinely couldn't produce two billion in liquid funds on the spot. They could manage it by selling off some assets—but no one here would wait for that to happen.
[T/N: For anyone who might say; how can a region's top family can't even produce that much; first, you just don't understand how much liquidity is required to spend billions on a single item, and second, the Dawson family at the end of the day is just a Pseudo-Champion lineage.]
In the end, Julian won the Heart's Tear for 2 billion.
No one tried to raise the bid irrationally—at that price, only a fool would dare. If someone did try to raise it and Julian backed out, they'd be stuck with a bill they couldn't pay and a humiliation they'd never live down.
After swiping his card, Julian received the Heart's Tear.
Spending 2 billion on a Fighting-type Ultimate treasure was absolutely worth it.
After all, he had just spent 1 billion on a Larvitar Egg—though, of course, that was the result of Eric's confrontation with him.
By the end of the auction, Julian had purchased four items in total: a Larvitar egg, the ancient tablet, the Dark Stone, and the Heart's Tear.
The ancient tablet was bought by Dave and given to him as a gift.
The other three items cost Julian a total of 3.3 billion.
The Dark Stone didn't even amount to a fraction of the cost—it was practically a steal.
3.3 billion was an enormous sum. Ella roughly estimated that the total value of the Eastbrook family's assets was roughly equivalent to that amount.
Due to the massive outflow of funds, the finance department of the Walker Corporation was forced to work overnight. They also notified Henry, who was at home with his wife.
"I understand," Henry said, hanging up the phone.
"What's wrong? If it's about work, you should go. I'll be fine alone," Alice said, gently stroking her protruding belly. The little one inside was due in three months.
"It's nothing. Julian just spent over three billion. Finance was informing me, but they're making a fuss over nothing. Three billion isn't even that much," Henry shook his head and walked over to Alice, placing his hand gently on her belly.
"Julian should be in Victoria now, right? I saw him in the news recently, and it mentioned he was in a car accident."
"Probably," Henry said, nodding. "I haven't really been in touch with that kid lately."
"You, as his uncle, don't even care to check up on him?" Alice chided gently.
Henry put on an exaggeratedly pitiful expression. "Hey, my heart's been completely occupied by you and our soon-to-be-born child! Once our daughter is born, she'll be the little princess of the Walker family."
"With a Champion grandfather, a peak Pseudo-Champion uncle, a Champion brother, and parents who adore her—she'll definitely be the happiest person in the world!"
*****
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